Ribbon Blue
by zyn1213
Summary: Picking up where my Songfic The Scotsman left off.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own any part of Inu Yasha. I have a much firmer grip on reality than that although I openly admit I sometimes wish I didn't.

This is a continuation of my one shot songfic The Scotsman. It is not necessary for you to read Scotsman unless of course you are the impatient sort. This is only a Prologue of sorts, full chapters to follow.

* * *

Kouga sat by the fire, absentmindedly fingering a blue ribbon tied to his left armor strap. A dreamy look was in his eyes and a secretive smile pulled at his lips. Ginta and Hakkaku were also settled around the fire, clutching their heads and moaning softly. 

"Damn light. Why it gotta be so bright?" Hakkaku growled out.

"Shut up. Just shut up. Stop your shouting and shut up." Groaned Ginta.

"I'm not shouting and it IS too bright."

"Shuddap. Your voice is giving me a headache."

"The wine gave you a headache. And don't tell me to shut up. If I could move anything other than my eyes I would hit you."

"You don't seem to have a problem moving your mouth. All the time with the moving of the mouth and words coming out of the mouth." Ginta grunted and did his best to level a glare at his friend. It might've worked, had the glare been in the direction Hakkaku was actually in. Ginta's eyes were narrowed against the sun and the faintest hint of bloodshot eyes was all that could be seen.

"All I'm saying is its damn bright. Let's go lie down for awhile and wait for the sun to stop hurting." Hakkaku made a grand effort to stand and seemed to think better of it. "Know what Ginta?"

"No, but your going to shout it at me."

"I am NOT shouting. I'm also not oomph!...too proud…eh eh…to crawl." Accompanying words to action Hakkaku had let his self fall over and was now crawling to the darkest part of the cave and settling himself in. Obviously they had had a little too much wine to be awake this hour and why torture one's self?

Deciding to follow his friend's lead, Ginta crawled up next to him. Hakkaku wrinkled his nose in protest. "Damn Ginta, you threw up last night didn't you?" Ginta's only answer was a snore and Hakkaku decided his buddy didn't smell bad enough to warrant moving. He turned a sleepy head to their Prince and Leader. "Yo Kouga! Kouga!" No response was forthcoming and Hakkaku decided he didn't care enough about what his Prince was doing to go find out. He quickly followed Ginta into slumber.

The Prince of Wolves lowered his nose to the ribbon on his strap and inhaled deeply. The scent of his woman's arousal still lingered on the blue silk fabric and Kouga tried to imprint it in his mind. He had participated in the night's drinking with his pack brothers but unlike them he had awoken alone in the forest with a gift as welcome as it was risqué. The scent of the Slayer was interesting but ignored for the intoxicating scent of his woman. The secretive smile around Kouga's lips widened. Oh what fun he would have the next time he encountered his woman and her strange pack!


	2. Damn Woman Boozaholics

I don't own Inu Yasha. At all.

* * *

Kagome stretched languorously and let out a small yawn. Her sleepy eyes swept over the camp and came to rest on a certain Hanyou's glowering golden eyes. They narrowed in suspicion as she smiled and sent him a halfhearted wave. Inu Yasha turned his head to the side and let out one of his all purpose "Keh's" Kagome's lips twitched in merriment and she suppressed the urge to giggle. 

Sango and Kagome had bathed last night just like they said they were going to do. They prudently forgot to give any mention of an encounter with a certain wolf demon that could only be described as _wicked_. Fortunately the bath had erased all trace of the Wolf Prince's scent. Unfortunately, it did not hide the copious amounts of alcohol consumed by said wolf. At a loss as to explain why they smelled like a winery to their half demon friend and protector, Sango and Kagome blushed. Inu Yasha mistook the blush as an admission of guilt and accused the girls of drinking in the hotspring and proceeded to lecture them thoroughly. Not wanted to revel how they really came to smell that way, they meekly took the scolding.

To Miroku, the triple delight of the girls, nudity, and reason slaying alcohol was too much to bear. The monk spent the whole time dreamily staring into space, when he wasn't knowingly winking at them that is. Inu Yasha (as he told them several times) was disappointed in them and stated it would serve them right to be ambushed while intoxicated and nude and _then_ they might form a sense of responsibility and self preservation. For a warrior born and a priestess of all things! More than once Kagome had to lay a hand on Sango to prevent her friend from braining the hanyou and telling him just who had been so drunk but it would led to questions best not asked, lest the answers hurt someone.

Kagome frowned suddenly. Wait a moment. What _was _Kouga doing so drunk in the middle of a field? After all, she hardly knew anything about him. What if he was a drunkard? What if this was normal for him? What if she became his mate and spent the rest of her life picking up wine tankards while he yelled at her to get in the kitchen and 'make me a sammich woman!' ? The absurdity of that last what if hardly registered with Kagome as she pressed her hands to her eyes and made a small sound of distress.

"What's a matter wench? Hung over?" Inu Yasha glared once more at the Priestess.

Oblivious to him, Kagome continued to run unattractive mental pictures through her mind. "Ohhhh…I'm going end up barefoot and always pregnant, making chicken pot pies!" she wailed, unaware she was speaking out loud.

"What are you babbling about?" Inu Yasha blinked at the girl from the future. She wasn't making sense, even for her. _That,_ Inu Yasha sniffed, was saying something. Even the rest of the camp was taking notice. Sango didn't understand too much better than anyone else, but being the only who knew what had truly happened, she took a guess.

"Kagome needs to go for a walk. Get the blood moving." Sango jumped up and grabbed the miko's arm. "C'mon Kagome."

"Whoa, hold up. If you two think I'm going to let you go for" Inu Yasha used the sarcastic quotation marks he had seen Kagome do "a walk" you have another thought coming!"

"Inu Yasha! We aren't taking anything with us, we just need to go for a walk." Inu Yasha snorted and Sango sighed. "Okay, okay! We need to have a little girl talk but I promise you, we are not going to have so much as a sip of anything other than water."

"You damn alcoholics are pretty sneaky. This is the first time you've slipped up and gotten caught. If you think I'm going to let you go off alone, think again. Have your girl talk here!"

Sango nearly growled in frustration. "Fine!" She sat down next to the Priestess. "Kagome, as you know my monthly bleeding will start soon and I wanted to know more about this 'Midol' whose virtues you have extolled for me. Also, I have been having the most monster blood clots you've ever seen and…"

"Oh for Kami's sake go on your damn walk!" snapped the Hanyou, holding his hands over his flattened dog ears. Sango stood up, yanking Kagome's arm. The girls stopped to grab Sango's boomerang (just in case) and headed off into the woods.

When they were a sufficient distance from the rest of the camp, Sango sat down in a small clearing and fixed her friend with a look that clearly said "talk!" When it was clear she wasn't going to do so, Sango decided to start the conversation ball. "So, you were thinking about having Kouga's kids?"

Kagome blushed bright red. "I don't know anything about him!"

"You know he cares for you. You know he's a good leader for his people. You know he's strong and as far as demons go, not bad at all." Sango smiled wickedly. "and you know how soft certain parts of him are and that he dreams of you!"

Kagome gasped and blushed some more. It took a moment to compose herself to articulate her concerns. "I also know that on at least one occasion he drank himself into passing out. What I don't know is if this is a habit."

"Ah. I think I understand. You have started to take Kouga and his constant declarations seriously and now what to know more about his character."

"Exactly! Wait, no! Oh I don't know!" Kagome flopped back in the grass so she was laying down. She turned her head to the side. "I realized I'm practically doing the same thing with Kouga as Inu Yasha is with Kikyou. He's so wrapped up in her, he doesn't see me right in front of him, wearing my heart on my sleeve." Kagome turned her head to look at Sango. "I know how that feels, how much it hurts." Sango squeezed Kagome's hand sympathetically. "I'm so wrapped up in Inu Yasha, I don't really look at Kouga. He always tells me he loves me and I brush it off like it doesn't matter. Like his feelings are nothing. Like I can take him for granted. Like Inu Yasha does with me."

"Do you still love Inu Yasha?" Sango asked quietly.

"Yes." Kagome squeezed Sango's hand "but I could love Kouga. I never gave myself, never gave him a chance. Maybe I need to."

"What are you going to do the next time he comes around?"

"Ask to speak to him alone. I want to let him know that while I'm not agreeing to be his mate, I want to know more about him. That I'm giving him a chance to court me." Kagome giggled. "Ask whether or not he's an alcoholic!" The girls shared a laugh. "It would be a shame to see that nice body with a beer gut." Sango shot her a quizzical look, prompting Kagome to share the unattractive male feature.

Sango let go of Kagome's hand and stood up. "We'd better get back before Inu Yasha comes looking for us, trying to catch us in the act of drinking!"

"You realize Miroku is going to be worse about trying to peek after this."

"I don't care so much about that" Sango caressed her boomerang. "I'm more worried about him finding out that we, or rather you, had your hand up Kouga's kilt."

"Oh like your hand wasn't five seconds away from joining mine!"

"I'm not saying it wasn't. I'm just saying it'll be harder to stand on the moral high ground with the letch if he knew I was sneaking peeks up demon's fur wraps." Sango swung the boomerang on her shoulder. "Even if it was worth it. Don't worry though. I know he's yours."

"I haven't really decided if I want him yet." Sango raised her eye brow. "For keeps I mean!"

"Well, once you talk to him and find out, you let me know. If you ever give up anything as fine as what was under that wrap, you let me know, I'll take it."

"Sango! I'm starting to think all of Miroku's rubbing has rubbed off on you!"

"I'm warrior born. I'm taught to appreciate the value of swords." Sango laughed, leaving Kagome sputtering behind her. The Slayer loved to tease her friend, especially about Kouga. Oh yes, the next meeting with the Wolf Prince will be interesting indeed.


	3. Puppy Love

I do not own Inu Yasha. I'm just a barely talented hack who can't come up with an original idea but must instead take the works of others and go "What if..." Thanks for making me admit it. Jerk.

* * *

Kagome adjusted the strap on her backpack and shot a dark look at the hanyou in front of her. Knowing he couldn't see it did not improve her mood. She was hot, sticky, tired, and she had a rock in her shoe. But did they stop? '_Oh no! Not Inu Yasha! He doesn't need to rest or sleep, just replace the titanium rod in his spine!' _ she thought uncharitably. She sighed the sigh of the long suffering and trudged after her friend. Sango came up next to Kagome and nudged her. When she saw she had her friend's attention, Sango let Kirara out of her arms. The fire cat transformed into her larger form. 

"Inu Yasha!" Sango called out "Kagome and I are going to ride on Kirara for a little bit." Inu Yasha looked over his shoulder at them and nodded in acknowledgement. Gratefully Kagome climbed up on the fire cat and positioned herself near the shoulders. Sango climbed on behind her and they took off into the air.

"Now that we're alone.." Sango said as they gained altitude, "you seemed kinda down lately, wanna talk about it?"

Kagome sighed again. "It's Kouga." The Priestess could feel Sango's smile.

"Go on." The Slayer urged her friend. "You've been thinking more about him?"

"It's been four days Sango. Four days! Kouga hasn't shown up once!"

"I thought you weren't quite ready to talk to him. You should be thankful for his absence until you figure out exactly what you are going to say."

"Not to mention that gives you more time to plan what you are going to do once Miroku finds out about that night?" Kagome twisted around enough to see the guilty look on her friend's face. "I was thankful. Now I'm worried."

"Worried? About what?"

"It's been four days. You know how Kouga is. I can not, CAN NOT, believe that four days have passed and he hasn't come to see me. I had my hand up his fur wrap. I touched him…there! I wrapped a ribbon around him for crying out loud! You'd think he'd be all over me by now!"

"Sounds like you want him all over you."

"…."

"I'm sorry, what was that? I didn't catch it." Sango leaned forward.

"I said I'm not sure I am entirely adverse to the idea anymore." Sango nearly fell off of Kiara.

"No entirely adverse anymore… oh come on, just admit you want him!"

"Follow your example perhaps? I think I missed the moment you told Miroku you want to sex him up!" Sango had the grace to blush at the comment. Kagome decided to take pity on her friend. "Seriously though, I would've thought Kouga would have been here by now. Why hasn't he shown up? What if…what if he really doesn't want me?"

"Doesn't want you? How could you even think that?" Sango looked incredulously at her friend.

"My hand up his wrap, four days later and I haven't seen him." Kagome heard the beginning of a quaver in her voice and hated herself for it. She took a deep breath and tried to get a grip on her emotions. A certain wolf demon had thrown them all to the wind. She still loved Inu Yasha, but with his continued emotional distance, her thoughts turned more and more to blue eyes and a fanged smirk. A thought streaked across her mind, so painful and sharp that Kagome actually gasped and glanced down at herself to see if there was a wound.

"What? What's wrong Kagome?"

Kagome wiped tears away from her eyes and swallowed hard. "I.." she took a deep breath "I've thought for sometime that the reason Inu Yasha has feelings for me is because I am Kikyou's reincarnation. What if the reverse is true?"

Sango frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I fell in love with Inu Yasha when I first saw him. What if 'I' didn't fall in love with him? What if the part of me in my subconscious who remembers being Kikyou, what if that was who loved him? I hold most of Kikyou's soul. What if I hold her love for Inu Yasha?" Kagome turned her head to look at Sango. The Slayer saw the uncertainty and fear there. "I always wondered, will probably always wonder, if Inu Yasha's feelings for me are because I was Kikyou. Now I wonder if my feelings for him are because I was Kikyou."

Sango nudged Kiara with her knees, signaling that the fire cat should land. When they were on the ground Sango pulled Kagome into her arms. "You are NOT Kikyou. Inu Yasha may be confused about that, but you ARE your own person! Your feelings are your own, not hers!"

"How do you know that? How could you know that?" Kagome started to cry. The realization that her first love may not be HER first love was painful. She felt Sango tighten her embrace. Kagome spilled tears onto the shoulder of her friend. "That's part of why I want to give Kouga a chance. He deserves it, and I know my feelings for him are MY feelings for him. I don't have that with Inu Yasha anymore. Maybe I never did. Maybe only Kikyou did."

Sango wished fervently for the words that would ease her sister's heartache. She opened her mouth and closed it again. The Slayer wanted to reassure Kagome but found she couldn't. Kagome was right. Kikyou and Kagome are different but with Inu Yasha the lines always got blurred. Who was Sango to tell Kagome about her own feelings, if they were her own? That Kagome herself, as herself, had some feelings for Inu Yasha; Sango never doubted. That those feelings were fleeting; nothing more than young love, first love she was also coming to conclude.

"Maybe, maybe you did love Inu Yasha. Your first love, right?" Kagome nodded. "Maybe you love, or loved Inu Yasha as a girl."

Kagome pulled back from Sango a little. "Are you saying you think my love for Inu Yasha was a.." she smiled "A puppy love?"

"While young for one of demon blood, Inu Yasha is no puppy."

Kagome laughed. "Puppy love is an expression in my time. It means your first love, a more pure love, because it is given with a pure heart of one very young. As you grow older and more mature, you grow apart and out of love."

She smiled at Sango, perhaps a little sadly and stepped away from Sango completely, settling herself on the ground. "Young love is so very black and white. You think you are meant to be and your love will conquer all. You'll always be together and all that matters is you'll be together." Kagome sighed. "It's like a story. You know you're going to be together forever so there's no point in planning the future. You don't talk about it and you don't envision it. You just see yourself a little older, smiling into gold eyes while watching him play with your children. You don't see where you live or how. You don't talk to him about it either."

Kagome looked at Sango and the slayer felt a squeeze on her heart at the expression on her friend's face. "I never talked or planned with Inu Yasha about our future. I just assumed one day he'd wake up, realize how much I loved him, we'd defeat Naraku and live together here in the past raising dog eared quarter demon children. I never thought of the details on how this came about. Maybe because deep down I knew I was dreaming and only thought my eyes were open."

Sango knelt next to Kagome. Very gently she asked, "Do you see the same thing with Kouga? Staying here raising wolf tailed hanyou cubs? Without knowing how?"

"No." Kagome bit her lower lip. "I see nothing; it's a big uncertainty with Kouga. I have so many questions for him. I'm not even sure of my feelings for him." At Sango's look she continued "Oh I know I want him. It's like I said before, do I want him for keeps? I don't know him well enough for the answer."

Sango's voice still was gentle as Kagome had ever heard it "You do know one thing." Sango met and held Kagome's questioning eyes. "You know whatever you feel for him you feel as a woman. You know it's not puppy love, it's not a story. Whatever it is, it's real."

"Tangible."

"Like other parts of him."

"You just have to keep bringing that up don't you?" Kagome glared at her friend. "You're just jealous you didn't get to touch him." Inwardly she was grateful for Sango's teasing. It was much easier to deal with than her feelings and she had quite enough of them for one day.

"That I am." At Kagome's startled look, Sango smiled. "I'm not going to bother denying it. It was a wondrous sight."

"We could always try to peek at the boys bathing and see if Miroku is as 'wondrous' himself." Kagome's eyes sparkled mischievously at the blush over Sango's cheeks.

"You must really and truly be over Inu Yasha if you didn't even think of peeking at him."

"Who said I didn't? I've often wondered if the hair would be white like on his head or dark like his eyebrows."

"Kagome!" Sango stared at her friend shocked.

"I lied when I said I didn't see how Inu Yasha and I lived together and had kids. I've seen THAT in dreams for some time." She looked positively impish. "Besides, even though I've more or less given up on Inu Yasha, doesn't mean I can't take a look at what I've passed up."

"Aren't you afraid that would make it that much harder to get over Inu Yasha?"

"I don't think so. Inu Yasha can say what he wants about Sesshoumaru being emotionally constipated, but he's not too much better. What's wrong with looking if I know he's too emotionally stunted for anything but looking?" Kagome smiled but it turned sad as she truly thought about what she had said. "Inu Yasha really needs to work through some of his emotional baggage."

"He's young, give him time. He's come a ways since I met him and I'm sure that means he's made lots of progress from when you first met him."

"He has." Kagome frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm just wondering what will happen once Inu Yasha gets over this Kikyou thing. I've felt like I was in reserve, you know? Like maybe once he figured things out with her, it would clear the way for us. What if he thinks that? It could undo all the progress and growth he made if he gets over her and then finds out I am no longer an option for his future happiness."

Sango put her arm around Kagome's shoulders. "Let's not borrow trouble. We'll slay that demon when it comes at us." Sango nodded to Kirara who transformed once more. "We should instead catch up to Inu Yasha before he comes sneaking up on us."

"To catch us in the midst of drunken debauchery." Kagome giggled.

"I wonder if he's simply not jealous that we don't invite him." With that the two girls took to the sky on the demon fire cat laughing.


End file.
